


Robbie (Not So Rotten)

by foxy_mulder



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Love Confessions, Love Notes, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pining, everyone knows theyre dating like way before they actually are, hand holding, insecure Robbie, misunderstood Robbie, robbie using too much mousse is a legitimate concern
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 19:28:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8933947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxy_mulder/pseuds/foxy_mulder
Summary: Sportacus was fairly new to Lazytown, but he had eyes. From only a few days in town, he figured he knew everyone pretty well.Trixie, the trickster, Stingy, a bit selfish but a nice boy, Ziggy, eager to please, Pixel, a bit of a recluse, Stephanie, sweet but closedminded sometimes, Ms.Busybody, overly concerned with appearances, and Mayor Meanswell, who...meant well.   Then there was Robbie Rotten.





	

Sportacus was fairly new to Lazytown, but he had _eyes._  
From only a few days in town, he figured he knew everyone pretty well.  
Trixie, the trickster, Stingy, a bit selfish but a nice boy, Ziggy, eager to please, Pixel, a bit of a recluse, Stephanie, sweet but closedminded sometimes, Ms.Busybody, overly concerned with appearances, and Mayor Meanswell, who...meant well. All their failings seemed fixable, and they were all very willing to try and overcome them. They could all be coaxed into having fun, too! Deep down, he knew these were all wonderful people and he was so excited to get to know them.

 

Then there was Robbie Rotten. 

 

Sportacus wasn't sure about him. The man didn't seem to want to do anything fun, and he was a very bad role model for the children, laying around underground, resurfacing once in awhile to say something scathing and then disappearing back into his creaky hatch. 

His opinion of Rotten worsened by the day. Sportacus wasn't one for hating people, but every time he and the kids were playing a game or having some kind of fun, Rotten would show up and mess everything up, one way or another. He called Sportacus names, like "Sportaflop" and "Sportaloser." He was just not very nice, for no reason at all.

 

Once, Sportacus tried to invite him to play, just to be sure. Robbie Rotten just laughed and laughed, like it was the funniest thing he'd heard in ages. When he was done laughing, he shook his head and said

"Don't make jokes, Sportakook."

So, yes, Sportacus had come to dislike him very much.

\-------

When they were having fun and singing, Robbie Rotten sat and watched. He must have though no one noticed. But Sportacus noticed. Rottens face had a wistful look to it, but he didn't come join them. Sportacus didn't know why he did it- if Rotten wanted to join in, he could have, but he hid instead. Surely he wasn't shy, he was always yelling at them the quiet down, he wasn't ever shy about that. 

Finally Rotten stood up and walked away, tripping Pixel as he passed by. 

\-------

Why did he want Sportacus out of town so badly? Why did he not want the children to have fun and exercise? Why did he mousse his hair so much?!

Robbie Rotten was a constant puzzle. One of these days, he was going to push Sportacus over the edge, and Sportacus might do the unthinkable- 

say something that could be taken as passive aggressive. 

He hoped he wouldn't have to go to such drastic lengths. But Robbie seemed to be nothing but rotten.

\-------

 

His crystal was going off. Someone was in trouble... this time of night?! He cartwheeled around town, looking for the source. Everyone was at home, in bed.  
Sportacus finally came to Robbie Rottens place. He was hesitant to go inside, but it was past his bedtime and he wanted to save him and get to sleep.  
So he cautiously opened the hatch.

"Rotte- Robbie?" he called. A grunt was the only response.

"Are you in trouble?" He walked slower than he was accustomed to; it was dark inside. 

"No! Go away!"

Sportacus couldn't just leave, not if someone was in trouble. He scanned the room, eyes landing on movement in the corner.  
There stood Robbie Rotten. His fingers were caught in one of his machines, wedged between two pieces of metal, and he looked downright murderous.

"Go on, laugh it up," he whispered harshly. 

Sportacus didn't want to laugh. As much as he disliked him, he seemed like he was really in pain. Why would he want to laugh?  
He carefully freed each finger from the metal. Luckily, nothing looked broken. Still, he was sympathetic. 

"Do you want an ice pack?"

Robbie Rotten gave him a strange look. Despite his fingers being free, he still had a pained expression. It took him a moment to respond.

"You don't hav- t-that won't be necessary!" He snapped.

Sportacus nodded and took it as his cue to leave. 

_How ungrateful._

\--------

Today Sportacus was doing jumping jacks outside while the kids played a little ways off. He was sweaty, not from excercise, but from the heat of the day.  
He wondered if the kids were hot, too. He had just decided to go check when he spotted Rotten walking by the little stone wall.

He wore sunflower glasses, and held a gigantic jug of lemonade, which he was casually sipping through a twisty straw. He looked relaxed, and didn't seem to be up to no good, but Sportacus could never be sure. So he watched him from a distance. Rotten strolled past the kids without so much as a glance their way, and Sportacus sighed in relief.

_Maybe he's just enjoying the day after all._

He could hear Stingy whining, "Can we go in? I'm so thirsty, I feel like I'm dying!"  
The other kids agreed. Robbie Rotten, still in earshot, froze and turned around. The kids still hadn't seen him. Was he going to scheme? Give them unhealthy drinks, or some kind of poison, or-

Rotten set his jug on the wall and walked away.

Stephanie was the first to notice.  
"Hey, lemonade!" She looked around for the owner. Seeing Sportacus, she waved and smiled.  
Sportacus was completely bewildered. Robbie Rotten had given the kids a drink, with no clear benefit to himself. Why? That seemed very out of character for him. Was it some plot?

 

He would have to keep an eye on that Robbie Rotten.

 

\-------------

He turned Ziggys birthday into a disaster by dressing up as a "birthday fairy."  
Sportacus demanded an explanation. He went directly to the hatch after they finished cleaning up the mess.  
He opened it and climbed in, but immediately did a double take.

Last time he was here, it was dark and he was very tired. This time the lights were on, and he could see just how empty the place was. Aside from a few piles of trash, machinery, and a single worn orange chair, the room was totally barren. He almost felt bad for Robbie Rotten. 

The man himself was in the chair, totally still. Sportacus approached quietly.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" He hoped his voice conveyed his seriousness. From Rottens slump and defensively sputtered excuses, it seemed it did.

"I didn't mean to, I wanted to be a good birthday fairy, I didn't mean for that to happen!"  
Sportacus was still doubtful, but he seemed sincere enough. Still...

"Why did you want to be a birthday fairy in the first place?!"

Squirming in the fuzzy chair, he crossed him arms, making him look like a sulking child. 

"Birthday fairies get invited to birthday parties." _and I don't._

Sportacus heard the unspoken words, and felt himself soften. So Robbie just wanted to be invited to the party. He had always assumed Robbie wore his disguises just for the sake of causing trouble, but maybe there was more to these schemes than met the eye.

 

He would have to keep an eye on that Robbie Rotten.

\---------

 

Sportacus started paying attention, and once he did, he just couldn't stop. Robbie was, of course, the same Robbie as ever, with his tricks and brooding and attempts to kick Sportacus out of town. And yet it was like he'd never even seen him before. Sportacus could have kicked himself.

He started seeing little things that added up to a bigger picture. Robbie stormed up to their game, getting into Sportacus' face to complain about them being too noisy. He was so close Sportacus could see the light freckles on his face, the deep circles under his eyes. Sportacus had an itching feeling. Was he sleeping enough? He started to ask, but Robbie put up a hand and continued lecturing exaggeratedly about their loudness disturbing his nap. _A daytime nap._ Suddenly, it clicked- the times he would find Robbie injured late at night from working on a machine, and then see him the next day sleeping on a bench, or complaining about noise. He must have a strange circadian rhythm. Did Robbie ever hate playing at all, or just resent the loud sounds? Robbie stomped away, missing all the questions Sportacus burned to ask. 

\---------

Robbie was in trouble again; this time one of his robots had malfunctioned and started pulling his hair. When Sportacus arrived, he was tearfully pushing buttons in an attempt to get it to let go. Sportacus was able to quickly put a stop to it by simply snipping part of his hair off, much to Robbies chagrin. He now had a medium sized bald spot on the side of his head, which he tried to cover (with little success) with his hands. Sportacus stood there awkwardly as he searched for something in a box.

"...Are you okay?" he asked hesitantly.

Robbie was digging through his box of wires, finally producing a mirror. He stared into it for a moment before shrieking.

"GET OUT!"

"Robbie, it's not that ba-"

Robbie threw a shoe at him.  
"Not that bad? You think you can mock me?! This is partly your fault, Sportakook!"

"Mock you? No, Robbie-"

Robbie threw another shoe.  
Sportacus left quickly, but reluctantly. He was starting to understand why Robbie hated being saved by him so much- he thought he would be made fun of. Which was ridiculous. He vowed to try and fix that.

\-------

Robbie was kind. He did little things, secret things, that helped people in town. He tried to hide it, but he was, as Stephanie wrote in her diary, "a big softie." (Maybe she understood him better than Sportacus did.)

Robbie was a genius. Sportacus had only seen the inside of his home a few times, but what he saw was amazing and a little disturbing. Robbie had wires and metal scattered across the floor like he'd been tinkering with them and couldn't be bothered to clean up afterward. His machines didn't always work perfectly, but they exuded a maniacal charm that was purely Robbie. Brilliant.

But Sportacus... worried about him. He only had one piece of furniture. No table, no bed. And he certainly didn't eat right, and he didn't exercise, and he slept in the day and not at night and wasn't good at socializing. So, he worried about him.

Sportacus tried to include Robbie more often in their games, sometimes having to drag him out of the hatch to come along. He had also taken to leaving care packages outside his door with a note each time that said nice things that he thought Robbie didn't hear enough, signed "from a secret admirer," (Sportacus told himself it was to make Robbie less suspicious of the food periodically appearing outside his house.) It wasn't a lie, he honestly was beginning to admire Robbie a lot. Maybe even a little too much. 

\------------

Robbie played baseball with them sometimes. Usually he declined but... _sometimes!_

And those were always interesting games- Sportacus trying not to be obvious about his staring at Robbies uniform (which looked _very nice_ on him), and Robbie fumbling with the bat, glaring at it like it personally offended him. Sportacus was often so distracted with his staring, he wasn't in top form, which evened up the game considerably. He was almost sure no one noticed, though- he took care to be indiscrete.

Everyone had a great time with Robbie there. He had a strange, dry sense of humor which Stingy and Trixie enjoyed, and surprisingly enough, he also made puns. Everyone liked the puns, and they made Sportacus laugh uncontrollably, long after everyone else had stopped laughing. Robbie had fun, too, though he would never admit it. He didn't have to admit it, because Sportacus was begining to be able to differentiate between Robbies frowns and his _frowns_. 

And when one of the kids asked Robbie when he'd come play again, he had a frown, which was a good sign.

\------------

 

"Sportacus?"

He looked up from his pushups and smiled.

"Robbie! Hello!"

Robbie looked uncomfortable.  
"Can I talk to you, uh, privately?"

"Oh, of course! Sorry, guys, you have to get off now."

The children all climbed off his back, except Ziggy, who tumbled off ungracefully, as was his style. Stephanie smiled at him. Robbie rolled his eyes.

They went to the bench, leaving the kids to play on their own for awhile.  
"What did you want to talk about?"

"Someone is playing a mean trick on me."

Sportacus wasn't expecting that. The kids might play a joke, but nothing mean- as far as he knew, everyone in town adored Robbie. He frowned.

"What did they do?"

Robbie looked down and blushed, saying nothing. Was it really something that bad? He suddenly _hated_ whoever did it, he would have harsh words with them, whatever they did to embarrass Robbie, who was so self conscious even after all the progress-

"They keep leaving food and stuff outside my door, with little..." he made a wild gesture with his hands, "...Love notes."

Oh.

Sportacus let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. 

"Robbie, that doesn't sound like a prank, it sounds like someone _likes_ you."

Robbies disbelief was palpable, and it pained him to look at. Sportacus could practically see the cogs turning in his head. Robbies eyes narrowed skeptically.

"...Why?"

Oh god. _Why not?_  
He placed a hand on Robbies shoulder to emphasize his words. 

"Because you are a good person, Robbie. You deserve nice things."

Robbie stared, clearly not buying it. Time for a different approach, then. He really didn't expect to do this today, but...

"It was me."

His head snapped up at the statement. 

"What?"

"I left the packages. It's not a joke, I just," he scratched his neck nervously. "I really like you, Robbie, and I worry about your wellbeing. So I left you food and gifts, because it seems like you wouldn't go out and get yourself those things."

"And the notes?"

"Also me. And every word of them is true!" 

Robbies eyes widened.

"So you- _you_ secretly admire... _me?"_

"Not exactly secretly. But yes, I admire you."

"But I cause trouble, and-"

"And play nicely with the kids, and build cool machines, and leave your lemonade for the kids when they were thirsty _yes,_ I did see that, I could go on," he wanted to continue, to babble about all the best things about Robbie for hours and hours, and then move on to the mundane things about him, and the weird ones, the tiny, insignificant details about him, and tell him every single reason he loved him. But that was... a little much, so he refrained for the moment.

"I really think a lot of you Robbie."

Robbie gave him a hard look, then huffed. 

"Fine," he looked conflicted for a moment, then continued, "Then hold my hand."

It sounded like a demand, but Robbies eyes betrayed his uncertainty. Sportacus immediately complied, taking both his hands and swinging them back and forth, smiling widely.

\-------------

Stephanie had only been in Lazytown a few months, but she had _eyes._  
There was Trixie, a cool girl, Ziggy, the sweetest kid around, Stingy, who was a little smartass (a word she picked up from Robbie), Pixel, a cute gamer, Ms. Busybody, who was bad at showing affection for people, and Uncle Meanswell who... meant well.

Then there was Robbie and Sportacus, the weirdos. She constantly wanted to roll her eyes at them. They thought they could keep the couple thing a secret, but they weren't doing a very good job so far. Kids were observant, after all. Did Sportacus think everyone missed him looking at Robbies uniform during baseball? How could they ignore him flipping around town at night to go to Robbies place? And then there were the love notes that they took turns snatching from Robbies doorstep to read and make fun of (They were very sappy, even by Stephanies standards) then put back before Robbie noticed they were missing.

Really, why would they even keep it a secret? Everyone liked them both; it was great news that they were a couple!

They came back to the game, hand in hand, and Sportacus announced:

"Robbie and I are a couple!"

He sounded proud. Robbie looked nervous.  
_Geez, finally!_

Everyone exchanged looks, Trixie finally piping up.

"Uh, we know already. We've known since we read y-"

Stingy slapped a hand over her mouth. No need to talk about their methods of finding out.

 

Robbie and Sportacus looked confused, but didn't pry. They all shrugged and went back to their game, with the Love Birds doing slightly more staring and touching than was usual for them. And at the end of the game, Sportacus gave Robbie a kiss on the nose, to everyone's collective disgust. 

 

_Are they gonna start doing that all the time? Geez, grownups are so gross._

She was going to keep an eye on those two.

**Author's Note:**

> took a break from the Lazytown series to write... oh ,,more lazytown haha
> 
>  


End file.
